Process for forming thick butt shingles



Jan. 26, 1932. Q ECKERT 1,842,448

PROCESS FOR FORMING THICK BUTT SHINGLES Filed Aug. 14, 1926 M @Ww Patented Jan. 26, 1932 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE CLARENCE R. EOKEBT, OF HIGHWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE BARRETT COM- PANY, A. CORPORATION 01 NEW JERSEY v PROCESS FOR FORMING THICK BUTT SHINGLES Application filed August 14;, 1926. Serial No. 129,132.

This invention relates to the manufacture of prepared roofing elements and relates more particularly to a continuous method for producing so-called thick butt strlp shingles 4 Thick butt shingles, as known to prepared roofing manufacturers, are those produced from felt impregnated with a bituminous material such as asphalt, the shingle element being partially or wholly coated upon one or both sides with asphalt and then partially coated with crushed slate upon either or both sides so as to produce a shingle having a thick butt, such as is described, for instance, in U. S. Reissue Patent No. 15,352. It has been found that this type of shingle may be improved by sealing or coating the out edges of at least that portion of the element which is to be exposed to the weather, so as to prevent extensive weathering of the edge of the shingle. This has been accomplished by a hand method, such as by dipping the shingle element (which may have a coating of slate upon one or both sides thereof) into melted asphalt, so that approximately one-third to one-half of one portlon of the shingle (that is, the butt or tab end of the shingle) is coated with the asphalt upon both sides and the edges thereof, crushed slate being then applied by hand to the newly coated butt of the shingle. Needless to say, this is an expensive and unsatisfactory manner of producing thick butt shingles.

It is among the objects of my invention, therefore, to provide a continuous method for producing thick butt shingles, starting with either the raw, saturated or coated felt and ending with the finished product.

The specific nature of this invention and further objects thereof will be more clearly understood from the, following description and accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts,

Fig. l'is a diagrammatic'side elevation, partially in section, of the type of apparatus which I have found satisfactory for carrying out my invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the web as it travels thru the apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view of the apparatus Wl'llCll may be employed in applying the butt thickening coating to the strips.

Fig. 4 is a cross section of a slightly different apparatus for accomplishing the same purpose and Fig. 5 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 6 is a section, taken thru one of the tabs, of one style of finished thick butt shingle which I may produce with my invention.

Referring now to the drawings, a Web A of roofing felt of the desired width is led thru the saturating tank 5, where it may be impregnated with a suitable waterproofing compound, such as asphalt or tar, and passes between the squeeze rolls 6 for removing excess saturant after which the web may pass over drying racks 7 for allowing the satu rated web to cool somewhat. The web is then fed thru the coating rolls 8 and 9, by means of which a relatively thin coat of weatherproofing compound, such as tar or asphalt (usually of a higher melting point than that of the saturant), is applied to the impregnated sheet. While the coating is still soft the web passes under the hoppers 11 and 12 and around the rolls 13 and 14. The hoppers 11 and 12 are of the usual design so that crushed slate, or other wear-resisting material, of any suitable color or mixture of colors may be showered upon the coated web from both of the hoppers, or crushed slate may be showered from the hopper 11 and mica from the hopper 12, or either or both hoppers may be closed, depending upon whether it is desired for the finished product to have an initial coating of wear-resisting material upon either one or both sides thereof.

The web now passes over the cooling rolls 15 and 16 and over the idler roll 17 and between the platen roll 18 and the cutting roll 19. By the installation of the desired cutting roll the finished shingle element may be made to take the form of a strip having rectangular tabs, or hexagonal tabs, or octagonal tabs or other desired shape. What are known as single shingles may also be made by my invention by proper design of the cutting roll. Such cutting practice is, in general, known to those skilled in the art and, it is thought, need not be dealt with more specifically here. After passing the cutting roll, the web A will appear as a plurality of strips 1, 2, 3, and 4. These strips pass thru the tab knocker 20 and splitter assembly 21 which, in the case of the type of shingle strip shown, removes the cut outs and splits the almost severed web into strips having shingle simulating tabs. (The specific details of this assembly are described and claimed in U. S. application No. 66433.) By means of the conveyer belts 22 and 23, strips 1 and 3 travel in a downward direction, while stri s 2 and 4 travel in an upward direction. bviously, if octagonal or hexagonal shingles are being produced certain portions of the tab knocker and stripper assembly, such as the tab knocker itself, would be omitted.

The strips 1, 2, 3 and 4 are now ready to have applied thereto the tab or butt thickening coating of weather-resisting compound such as asphalt or tar. This is accomplished by means of such an apparatusas is shown in Fig. 3, or by that shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and indicated generally in Fig. 1 by the reference numerals 24 and 25.

In Fig. 3 the apparatus consists of a tank 26 for coating material, rolls'27 having enlargements 28 thereon, and nozzles or spouts 29. The enlarged portions only of the lower roll 27 dip into the coating material, such as asphalt (which is kept at such a temperature as to be liquid) in the tank 26. Goating material is fed to a portion of each strip thru the spouts 29. The strips are fed between the enlarged portions 28 of the roll 27 in such a manner that one edge of the enlarged portions 28 is slightly inwardly of the inner end of the tabs upon the strip. As the rolls rotate, therefore, the lower enlarged portions 28 deposit coating upon the tabs and the coating material from the spouts 29 is spread upon the tabs in an amount just sufficient to overflow the edge of the tabs and to thus coat the cut edges thereof, the upper enlarged portions 28 acting as a spreading device for the coating deposited by the spouts 29'. Thus, a coating 30 is deposited upon, and firmly adheres to, both sides of the tabs and the cut edges thereof, as well as a small portion of the main body of the strip.

The type of coating rolls shown in Figs. 4 and 5 are substantially the type described in application No. 574,633 and consist of two coating material tanks 32 and 33 and two coating rolls 34, having enlarged portions 35 thereon. Each enlarged portion 35 of the lower roll dips into coating material in a tank 32. The flow of coating material from the tank 33 upon the enlarged portion 35 of the upper roll is controlled by means of a gate 36. The lower enlarged portion 35, therefore, applies the coating 30 to the lower side of the tabs and the enlarged portion 35 butt thickening coating only to the upper face of the tabs and to the edges thereof, it is obvious that this may be done by merely emptying the tanks 26 or 32, depending upon which is being used to carry on the process. Crushed slate would, of course, later be a plied only to that portion which received the butt thickening coating.

While the coating material is still soft and plasticthe strips 1 and 3, and 2 and 4 pass under crushed slate hoppers 36 and 37, and 38 and 39, respectively, which shower crushed slate or other wear-resisting material upon the coated portion 30 of the strips. As shown in-Fig. l, the strips also pass over the rolls 41 which press the crushed slate into the plastic coating 30. The strips are then conducted over the cooling rolls 42 and over the timing rolls 43, projections upon the periphery of which engage in the notches between the tabs upon the strips. The cutters 44 are so synchronized with the timing rolls 43 that the strips are out along a line of severance between the proper tabs to form the finished shingle strips or elements 50, a section of which is shown in Fig. 6. From this figure it -"will be observed that the finished element 50 comprises an upper portion 51 of the usual thickness and a lower or butt portion 52 of greater thickness, due to the butt thickening coatings of asphalt and slate which have been applied. Not only are the butts or tabs, of my improved shingle, thickened but the edges of all portions of the shingle which are to be exposed to the weather are also coated thus sealing the exposed edges so that disintegration by the elements will not occur. The finished shingle strips are conducted, by means of any suitable conveyer 45, to packing and storage.

Even though I have described my process as being applicable to the production of thick butt shingles continuously from the raw felt, it is obvious that I may start my process with felt which has previously been saturated or I may even start it with felt which has been Altho I have described an apparatus which mined lengths to form thick butt shingle elewill carry out my invention, those skilled in ments having tabs disposed along one longithe art may findmodifications to certain por- 'tudinal edge thereof.

tions thereof, inasmuch as various expedients may be employed, generally speaking, for accomplishing the result intended by my invention; for instance, it may be necessary to install conveyer belts, where the web or strips span any great distance, in order to prevent the web or strip from breaking. Also the number of cooling rolls, or drymg racks or the type of slate hoppers to be used, is immaterial so far as the broad scope of my invention goes. I, therefore, intend that this invention, as defined by the claims annexed hereto, shall include all equivalent means for carrying out the method defined in said claims. In the claimsshingles, shingle strips and shingle elements are used interchangeably.

I claim:

1. The continuous method of making thick butt shingle elements having tabs disposed along one longitudinal edge of the body portion thereof which comprises continuously moving a web of material through a saturating bath, thus saturating the material, continuously coating with waterproofing material the entire extent of a face of sald web, continuously surfacing with granular material the entire coated face of said web, continuously cutting said web into strips, each having tabs disposed along one longitudinal edge thereof, continuously coatin the granular surfaced face and cut edges of said stri s with waterproofin material, applied in stripes to the face 0 said strips with one edge of the coating stripes substantially coinciding with the forward edges of the tabs, each coating stripe being of a width such that it substantially completely covers the face of the tabs, continuously applying granular material to said stripe of waterproof coating material on each strip and continuously cutting each of said strips into thick butt shingle elements having tabs disposed along one longitudinal edge thereof.

2. The method of making thick butt shingle elements having tabs disposed along one longitudinal edge thereof which comprises continuously moving a felt web which has been saturated and coated with bituminous material and surfaced with granular material, continuously cutting said web into strips having tabs along one longitudinal edge thereof, continuously moving the strips in a horizontal direction, continuously applying a weatherresistant bituminous coating to the cut edges and the normally exposed face of the tabs only of said moving strips while said strips are moving in a horizontal direction, continuously surfacing with granular material the coated portions of said tabs and con tinuously cutting said strips into predeter- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CLARENCE R. EGKERT. 

